Islamic inmates in Roumieh prison went on a hunger strike on Friday in protest at the release of ex-Minister Michel Samaha, in what seems to be a call for their own release under pretext that they have served their sentence.
“The Islamic inmates from Tripoli began a hunger strike in protest at the release of Samaha,” said inmate Ziad Allouki in an audio recording, according to LBCI.
Allouki was the so-called leader of the Souk al-Qameh fighting frontier in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood when gunbattles with the rival Jabal Mohsen were at peak between 2013 and 2014.
He was arrested in April 2014 when the Lebanese security forces launched massive crackdowns on street leaders in Bab al-Tabbaneh that led to the imprisonment of many influential leaders including Allouki, whom reports said has surrendered under specific conditions.